Etymologically
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cobalt

Etymology and origin of the English word cobalt

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Formation
Borrowing
Borrowed from
German Kobalt

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈkəʊ.bɒlt/, /ˈkəʊ.bɔːlt/, /ˈkoʊ.bɔlt/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from German Kobalt,[2][3][4][5] a variant of Kobold “goblin”,[3][4][5][6] from Middle High German kobolt (“household goblin”),[2][3][4][6] perhaps from kobe “hut, shed” and *holt “goblin”, from hold “gracious, friendly”, a euphemism for a troublesome being.[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The ores of the metal (1683).[7][3][4] Etymonline dates the word to the 1680s.[6]

Semantic evolution

Silver miners in the Harz Mountains believed that goblins had left this ore in place of stolen silver;[4][3][2] it degraded the ore, and its arsenic and sulphur made the miners ill.[6][4] The name passed from the ore to the metal extracted from it,[7] which was isolated by the Swede George Brandt in 1733.[6] Because its compounds had long been used to colour glass blue, the name was extended to a blue pigment and colour (1835).[7][6] Compare nickel, also named after a goblin.[4][6]

Timeline

  • 1683 – cobalt ores.[7][3][4]
  • 1776 – in combinations such as cobalt mine.[7]
  • 1835 – the blue pigment; cobalt blue.[7][6]
  • 1849 – adjective, cobalt-blue.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A hard, lustrous, silver-white magnetic metallic element related to iron and nickel, used especially in alloys and in blue pigments; symbol Co, atomic number 27.
  2. Cobalt blue, a deep blue pigment or colour.

Word family

  • cobaltic
  • cobaltite
  • cobaltous
  • cobalt blue
  • kobold
  • nickel

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  5. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Cobalt.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/cobalt. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·